Chapter 33: The truth of Tessa
"Elena, I told you – we are family now. Your problems are my problems. If I asked you to take care of my grandfather someday, would you refuse?"
"No, I’ll never," she replied without hesitation. "Your grandpa is mine too."
"Then your aunt is my aunt too. Shouldn’t I take care of her?"
At that, she fell silent. She suddenly realized she had no way to argue against him.
"You are my wife. And if you won’t spend my money, who will?" He stuffed the card into her hand. "Take it."
This time, she couldn’t reject him anymore. "Thank you."
He smiled.
"This house is all yours now. Go around and check it. If you want to change anything, feel free to do it."
He glanced at his watch briefly.
"I need to head to the office now. I’ll try to come back early."
He didn’t leave right away. He stood there, watching her quietly as if waiting for something.
Elena felt a bit awkward under his steady gaze. She couldn’t understand what he wanted.
"Bye," she said, waving at him.
Elias raised an eyebrow, slightly disappointed. He had expected something more than just a wave.
Maybe a kiss. Or at least a hug.
But Elena merely stood there awkwardly like a stranger seeing him off.
"Bye. See you in the evening."
He quickly left.
Elena stood there staring at the closed door for a long moment, confusion filling her face.
"He looked disappointed. Did I do something wrong?"
~~~~~~~~~
When Elias arrived at the office, Owen was already waiting for him.
"Good morning, sir," Owen greeted him. "Congratulations. You finally got married."
Elias paused momentarily. Elena’s face suddenly crossed his mind.
The corners of his lips quirked slightly.
"I fulfilled Grandpa’s wish," he murmured as he walked toward the desk and settled in his seat.
Owen raised an eyebrow. He still remembered how terrified Elias had looked when Elena lay unconscious at the hospital. During those two days, Elias had barely rested and had not left Elena’s side for a moment.
It was obvious he liked her. But he wasn’t accepting it, claiming the marriage was just to fulfil his grandfather’s wish.
Owen almost laughed aloud. But after working beside Elias for years, he knew exactly how dangerous it was to mock his boss openly.
He quickly cleared his throat and suppressed the urge.
"Mr. Knox sent a proposal, sir," Owen reported, pushing a file toward him. "He wants us to invest in his new AI project."
The name sparked interest in Elias. "You mean Damian Knox of Zenith Core?"
"Yes."
Elias opened the file and skimmed through it quickly.
The project looked promising.
Working with Zenith Core would push his company into an entirely different level. Once the AI project succeeded, AscendCore would instantly become one of the most sought-after investment firms in the country.
But he closed the file.
"Elena knows well about Mr. Knox. Let her deal with this matter." Elias looked up at Owen. "Are the documents ready?"
"Everything is ready, sir," replied Owen. "The appointment letter will be sent soon."
"Hmm." Elias nodded.
Then Owen continued, "Mr. Ryan wants to see you. He said he needs to discuss the hospital project."
Ryan was the CEO of Novacrest Global, a business conglomerate owned by the Rowan family. This company’s influence spanned across various industries, including real estate, finance, luxury hotels, shipping, energy, and technology.
Recently, they had also begun expanding in the healthcare sector.
The Rowan family’s influence stretched so far that even major business tycoons desperately sought opportunities to collaborate with them.
Although Elias was the true heir of the Rowan family and controlled several hidden businesses privately, he had always kept an unusually low profile. Very few people in the business world knew his identity.
Publicly, he appeared to be nothing more than the CEO of a newly established investment company. No one would suspect that the mysterious and low-profile Elias Rowan was actually one of the wealthiest and most powerful men behind Novacrest Global.
Elias checked his watch. "Do I have any scheduled meetings?"
𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶
"Yes, you have a meeting with a client in an hour."
"Hmm..." After a moment of consideration, Elias said, "Tell Ryan to come in the afternoon."
"Alright, I’ll inform him."
Then Owen handed him an envelope. "You also received an invitation to an auction this weekend. Are you attending?"
Elias opened the envelope casually and glanced at the invitation card. For some reason, Elena suddenly crossed his mind again.
He wondered whether she would like jewelry, or perhaps paintings.
"Yes," he answered calmly. "I’ll go."
Just then, Owen’s phone buzzed. When he saw the caller ID, he answered immediately.
"Hello?"
His expression changed when he heard something from the other side.
"Bring it in."
Ending the call, he darted his gaze toward Elias, his tone turning serious. "We received an update about Miss Tessa Morgan."
Elias’s posture stiffened subtly.
"The report will be here soon."
A few moments later, a man entered and bowed slightly at Elias. He handed a file to Owen and then left.
Owen checked it. With every page he turned, his expression darkened.
"This woman is something," he muttered.
Elias watched him quietly.
Owen finally raised his head and looked at him grimly.
"Tessa Morgan is a liar, a fraud," he hissed, clearly agitated. "Take a look."
He put the file on the table.
Elias opened it.
The first thing he saw was several photographs of Tessa with different men. In every picture, Tessa was intimately close to different men.
Some photos showed her entering luxury hotels, while others captured her hugging or kissing them openly in bars.
Elias’s eyebrows creased.
"She dated several wealthy men while abroad," Owen continued. "But two years ago, she met with Noah Sinclair again and rekindled their relationship."
Elias turned the page. This was a detailed medical report of Tessa. According to the report, she was healthy. There was absolutely nothing wrong with her heart.
It surprised him.
"So she faked her heart condition," he murmured with disbelief.
"Yes. She fabricated everything to gain Noah Sinclair’s sympathy and keep him tied to her."
Something crossed Elias’s mind. If Tessa had gone as far as faking a terminal illness, she was definitely hiding far more dangerous secrets underneath.
"This woman is hiding something much bigger. Dig deeper."